Horsford's Milestones

 

 

The parish has a trio of roadside milestones (yes, I'm sure some of you thought we only had two). For the uninitiated, milestones (aka milemarkers or mileposts) were constructed in the past to provide reference points along the road for travellers (be that by foot or by horse). This not only reassured travellers that they were on the right path, but also often showed them how far they had travelled from a given settlement behind them and how far they had to travel to a given settlement ahead of them.

 

Horsford's most prominent milestone sits at the southern entrance to the village.  Some of you may have noticed that it received some care and attention in 2013, including a lick of white paint and black paint on the lettering.  We have Carol and Alan Haines of  The Milestone Society  to thank for this.  There are future plans to give the same treatment to Horsford's larger, and much overlooked, third milestone.

 

The idea of mile markers may have been Roman, with 'The Golden Milestone' erected in Rome, as the centre of empire, and being the marker from which distances to other towns and provinces were measured and indicated. Some Roman milestones remain in England. Others date from the 18th century, and the days of the Turnpike Trusts. Others still, like many of those on the Holt Road, date from the late nineteenth and early 20th century (erected by the County Councils, which didn't form until the late 19th century).

 

To complicate matters more, in May 1940 county councils arranged to bury, remove or deface all road signs, including milestones, to help thwart an expected German invasion. Most markers were re-instated in their original positions post-war, but a percentage remained buried, were modified or displaced. It is inevitable that this will have caused errors in the display and shape of some markers. There are thought to be around 52 NCC Main Road posts in all, coming in a variety of stone, metal and concrete. The total surviving milestones in the whole of Norfolk is estimated at 350, with 18 of those listed by English Heritage.

 

For parish milestones I have bracketed their national ID and grid reference, in case any reader wants to investigate them further themselves. Information has been drawn from the pages and spreadsheets of  The Milestone Society . I'd like to express my thanks for their incredible dedication and work in cataloguing, sharing their information and promoting preservation of Britain's lovely milestones.

 

The first Horsford milestone (NO_NH04, TG 195 153) is sited on the Holt Road grass verge, just before the southern entrance to the village. This is in fact a Norfolk County Council concrete milestone, probably dating from the late 19th century. It's in very good condition and received a kind and generous fresh lick of white paint and black paint lettering in 2013.

 

The second Horsford Holt Road milestone (NO_NH05, TG 189 167) is a back stone with a cast-iron front.  Although this is listed by The Milestone Society as a 'Cromer cast-iron' milepost the name is simply a designation of their own, in the absence of any official name  -  it was unlikely forged in Cromer.  The milepost is sited in front of The Brickmakers public house car park, alongside the bus shelter, and is more easily overlooked. It appears to receive no care, is often part hidden by grass, and is in a deteriorating condition.

 

As regards a date for the Brickmakers milepost, I have to thank Carol Haines at The Milestone Society for digging up some relevant information:

 

 

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"From the turnpike account books I found the following payments:

 

11 March 1822: Messrs Ransome and Sons for Cast Iron Milestones - £24 10

07 August 1822: Charles Abbott on account of his Bill for Milestones - £10

1 Nov 1823: William Morris for labor fixing Milestones - £0 8 0

9 Dec 1823: John Warnes for Teams and labor on the Carriage of the new Milestones - £2 2 0

 

I have not been able to track down Ransome & Sons – more work in trade directories needed. I did find Charles Abbott however. He was a stone and marble mason in Millgate, Aylsham (Pigot & Co’s Directory 1830). It therefore seems fairly certain that the stones behind the cast iron milestones were made specifically for them as a support and were not older milestones reused. Most of the backing stones do fit exactly into the cast iron posts."

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The third Horsford parish milestone (NO_NC05, TG 2168 1706) is another Norfolk County Council concrete affair, again probably dated from the late 19th century. It's sited on the eastern verge of the A140 Cromer Road, approximately 150 yards north of the Newton St. Faith junction. If you walk, carefully, south from the A140 end of Green Lane then you'll find it about two thirds of the way between Green Lane and the Newton junction. Alternatively, pull into Newton St. Faith and take an immediate right  -   where there is roadside parking. When the grass is low, you can see the milestone, on the opposite side of the road, from the Newton village sign. The concrete milestone is at the back of the verge, by the fence, and, whilst larger, isn't as well cared for as the one at the southern entrance to Horsford.

 

If you choose to visit either of our lovely NCC milestones, just out of interest or whilst on a 'bagging' spree, note that there are no pavements so please do take care on those busy roads!

 

 

(The  Grid Reference Finder  site does exactly what it says on the tin!)